Marvel Super Heroes (2023 Owen Laramore Entertainment film)
Marvel Super Heroes is a 2023 American 3-D computer-animated superhero film produced by Owen Laramore Productions in association with Marvel Studios, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The sixth theatrical Owen Laramore film, the film was directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson from a screenplay penned by Vanessa Taylor, and stars an ensemble voice cast featuring Tom Cruise, Ana de Armas, Tommy Lee Jones, Campbell Scott, Tom Hanks, Tim Curry, Jack Black, Jay Hernandez, Emma Thompson, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu, Jim Hanks, Billy Bob Thornton, Tim Robbins, Liv Tyler, Richard E. Grant, and Cindy Robinson. In 2020, Owen Laramore Entertainment was tasked with creating a Marvel Comics. This is the first film from Marvel Studios to be entirely computer-animated. Cruise, de Armas, Jones, Scott, Hanks, and Curry were revealed to be the voice cast, with more members being added by the end of 2022. The animators were challenged with creating realistic skin and hair. Composer Christophe Beck composed the film's musical score. The film was released theatrically on December 22, 2023 in the United States. Critics praised Marvel Super Heroes for its animation, humor, musical score, and vocal performances. It performed universally perfect at the box office with a gross of over $1.3 billion, becoming Owen Laramore Entertainment's second film to earn $1 billion, after ''Disney In The House'', and held the record of being the highest-grossing Owen Laramore film at the time before ''Disney In The House 4'' surpassed it in 2030. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature, but lost to Disney Dimensions. Plot Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Thor fight off Venom and his newly-created Venom Bus. He retreats and the heroes stop it from destroying City Hall, but they are condemned by the public for causing the damage, making superheroes illegal. A businessman named Krisel Blanc, the owner of a new company named Blanctech, hires the heroes and reveals his plan to make superheroes legal again. He sends Iron Man to stop Ultron, Black Widow to stop Lady Deathstrike, Hulk to stop Doctor Octopus, Captain America to stop Raven Darkholme, Spider-Man to stop Kingpin, Red Skull, and Doctor Doom, and Thor to stop Hela, Sabretooth, and Enchantress. Each mission is a success, and Krisel decides to celebrate on board a yacht so he can make superheroes legal again. However, Venom captures Iron Man. and hypnotizes him with glasses that hypnotize people by getting a screen over their eyes. With control of Iron Man, Venom intends to make the yacht crash into the city and make the Avengers illegal forever. Black Widow holds a speech to the Avengers, and they set out to find Iron Man. When Black Widow finds a hypnotized Iron Man, he puts glasses on her and Hulk. The hypnotized trio turns the yacht towards the city and smash the controls, but Captain America, Spider-Man, and Thor arrive and remove their goggles, saving them. Angry, Venom phases the villains to go on Phase 3. The Avengers arrest the villains. Venom gives commands to stop Iron Man, but the Avengers pull his screen's plug, and everyone on the yacht regains their senses. Venom tries to escape in his Venomcopter, but Iron Man hops on and forces him to expose his crimes. Inspired by Iron Man, the yacht passengers condemn Venom. The Avengers turn the ship to safety and it comes to a halt---just inf front the city. The police arrest Venom and the villains and take them to jail. The city judge thanks the Avengers for their extraordinary service and fully restores the legal status of superheroes. In a mid-credits scene, the Avengers are going to a movie, right before police pass by chasing a gang of robbers, and the Avengers join the police in pursuit to catch the robbers in time for the movie. Cast * Tom Cruise as Iron Man * Ana de Armas as Black Widow * Tommy Lee Jones as Hulk * Campbell Scott as Captain America * Tom Hanks as Spider-Man * Tim Curry as Thor * Jack Black as Venom * Jay Hernandez as Ultron * Emma Thompson as Lady Deathstrike * Ben Kingsley as Doctor Octopus * Lucy Liu as Raven Darkholme * Jim Hanks as Kingpin * Billy Bob Thornton as Red Skull * Liv Tyler as Hela * Richard E. Grant as Sabretooth * Cindy Robinson as Enchantress * Josh Keaton as Krisel Blanc * Jessica DiCicco as Veronica Blanc * Gary Krisel as Police Chief * Kevin Michael Richardson as Mayor Production Development In January 2021, Owen Laramore announced an animated Marvel comics film was in the works. The fourth outside director was Sam Taylor-Johnson, after Quentin Tarantino, Robert Zemeckis, and Arthur Allan Seidelman (the latter whom Laramore worked with as directors). Vanessa Taylor penned the screenplay. The plot centers on The Avengers attempting to stop Venom and restore the legal status of superheroes. Casting Tom Cruise, Ana de Armas, Tommy Lee Jones, Campbell Scott, Tom Hanks, and Tim Curry were revealed to be voicing Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Thor. Jack Black joined in as the voice of Venom, In 2022, Jay Hernandez, Emma Thompson, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu, Jim Hanks, Billy Bob Thornton, Tim Robbins, Liv Tyler, Richard E. Grant and Cindy Robinson joined the cast. Music Taylor-Johnson revealed in 2022 that Christophe Beck would be composing the film's score, after seeing his musical involvements with The Peanuts Movie, Trolls, Tokyo Zoo, and the two Frozen films. A song by Taylor Swift titled "Superheroes" is played in the end credits. The song was also praised by the critics. Reception Box office The film grossed $655 million in the United States and Canada, and $708 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.363 billion. It is the second highest-grossing Owen Laramore film (behind Disney In The House 4), and the studio's highest-grossing PG-rated film to date. Critical repsonse Marvel Super Heroes has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus reads, "Like the Incredibles films, Marvel Super Heroes takes audiences on thrilling superhero adventures". Metacritic signed the film a score of 93 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A+" on a A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a score of 99% and a 91% "definite recommend". A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, saying, "Marvel Super Heroes recaptures the showstopping steel of Disney's live-action Marvel movies with its obviously perplexing humor. This has the need to do so". J. R. Jones of Reader gave the film five out of five stars. Perry Seibert of TV Guide ''gave the film "Two Thumbs Up". Critics generally praised the visuals, humor, voice acting, animation, and plot. Ty Burr of ''The Boston Globe wrote, "Part of the reason why Marvel Super Heroes is popular is because of us getting to see Tom Cruise as Iron Man, Ana de Armas as Black Widow, and Tom Hanks as Spider-Man. This film acts faithful to the source material in its own way. Go see it if you're looking for a superhero movie."